suburbia is unsustainable


ATTRIBUTE #6 - Suburbia is not the most environmentally sustainable form of development.

This is true both in terms of:
 - resource usage per person to build and run the house and
 - the kind of living patterns that they create.






There have been many of studies into greenhouse gas emissions per person. Looking at operational impacts (i.e. the impacts of 'running' your dwelling) is a good way of understanding the effect of house type on its own.  

The following study by Partridge and Veale shows that 'townhouse' is the lowest building type for operational emissions per person


Greenhouse gas emmissions person

Source : Partidge and Veale from Climate Design: Design and planning for the age of climate change.

Note: values derived from typical residential developments assessed using BASIX and other data published by Myors, O’Leary and Helstrom (2005).  

It is important to note that this study did not take into account the greenhouse gas emissions relating to transport.  Of course taking transport emissions into account would benefit apartments and townhouses which tend to be serviced better by public transport than detached houses.

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